Esper

Esper is one of five Shards of Alara. It is primarily blue-aligned, with white and black as secondary colors.

Description

Esper primarily inhabited by humans, vedalkens, and sphinxes, and a small race of blue-skinned sentient beings called the homunculi, among others. It is also the native plane of Tezzeret. There are twenty-three sorts winds of Esper. This wind is considered by the Vedalken to have mystical significance.

The most distinguishing characteristic of Esper's inhabitants is their complete use of etherium to improve their skills and life spans.

The Esper Ethersworn have been studying planeswalking and could get hold of Vronos. In exchange for knowledge, Vronos agreed to planeswalk in a controlled setting for the Ethersworn for a while.

In Esper, instinct is the last thing that creatures want. Sphinxes invent the most devilish riddles, while vedalken and wizards study and create. The interesting thing about Esper is that everything is made of filgree metal known as "etherium". Because red and green mana do not exist in Esper, there is no wildness in Esper. Everything is well thought out and perfect. Well, maybe almost perfect. In Esper, the artificers create many machines, ranging from birds to golems. Drakes circle the skies, while still humbled by the power of sphinxes, who dominate and protect Esper. Gargoyles and wizards are the warriors of Esper, as well as the sphinxes. Under the control of the mages and vedalken, they are ready to defend against any attack.

The Conflux

When the Conflux happened, red and green mana flooded into Esper. Because of these wild colors, the wizards and wedalken became corrupted and Esper began to fall apart. The sphinxes could not stop this. Flesh creatures entered Esper and mixed with the creatures made of etherium. The vedalken, who had fallen short of etherium, freaked out and went crazy. Esper's borders continued to smash into Bant and Grixis until it became part of the new Alara.

Geography

Notable locations

• Cesspools
• Cloudheath
• Cliffs of Ot
• Crypt of Knowledge
• Glass Dunes
• House of Dialectics
• Palandius
• Sanctum Arcanum
• Tidehollow
• Visitarium

Notable inhabitants

• Tezzeret
• Sharuum
• Crucius
• Silas Renn

External links

• "Shard Preview: Esper", by "Magic Arcana", MTG.com, Wednesday, August 13, 2008.
• Kelly DiggesSeptember 09, 2008. "The Riddle of the Sphinx". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Mike Flores (September 25, 2008). "Well, That's Fair". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Noel deCordova (September 17, 2008). "Locked in Orb-it". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
• Doug Beyer (September 17, 2008). "Time for Esper". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.